Robert Grant’s Hidden Photos of Western Colorado Wildlife

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in August 2022. Bob Grant’s wildlife shots are worth a second look, so we’re bringing them back. Spot a hidden deer? Tell us how many you found.

Grand Junction, Colorado, photographer Robert Grant, while a newsman at heart, occasionally captured images of Western Colorado wildlife. Here are a few recently discovered images from the Grand Junction area.

The images below would have been captured in Western Colorado between the 1940s and 1970s. They've lingered unseen in a file cabinet drawer for at least 50 years.

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Always On The Ready

I can recall only a few occasions where I saw Bob Grant without a camera. Each of those instances fell long after his retirement. During his career, it was difficult to get in his car for all of the photography equipment on the seats and floors.

Lifted From Recently Found Negatives

The images below were scanned from negatives recently found within a file cabinet. While it's impossible to tell, my guess is the newest of these images would be from the late 1970s.

Since these come from negatives, the images you're seeing reflect Bob Grant's photography, but not his print work. These negatives were scanned and digitized. From there, it was up to me to crop the images and add whatever dodging I felt necessary.

Keep in mind, Bob Grant came from a very "8 x 10" world. In this day and age, we're living in a very "1600 x 1067 pixel" world. With that, it's very safe to say the cropping dimensions utilized for this gallery in no way reflect Bob Grant's preferences.

Various Western Colorado Locations

A number of these shots come from Bob's own front yard on Little Park Road in Grand Junction. A handful of others come from slightly higher up on Little Park on the way to Glade Park. Check out some of the shots from the valley, and you'll see the Grand Mesa in the background.

It's All In The Details

Bob loved to mess with people. If you see a shot with a deer in it, look closer, and then look again. Do you maybe see two deer? Perhaps three? While you're at it, keep a close eye out for clues that indicate where the picture was taken.